[LINK] web2 government

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Agreed, Tom .. our Aussie governments need a strong on-line presence.

Holding 'physical' meetings in Canberra, or anywhere, for consultation
and public discussion is environmentally detrimental, at least, if not
simply un-democratic & discriminatory, given modern-day communications.

Public discussion & consultations have always been one halmark of good
governments. Submissions (web1) and meetings (web2) have traditionally
served governments and therefore us, well. But times change, the tempo
of life, and decision-making needs, have changed exponentially.

We, the public, want e-government .. we want web2 discussion and input
on the many issues our government and therefore we, face in this world.

Your ideas Tom, of modified AusTender and GovDex systems seem sensible
and perhaps especially GovDex which is secure web2 technology. However
it's currently perhaps somewhat formal & exclusive, being invites-only.

Many agree with Roger current-technology-video hinders online meetings
but, in terms of e-government, everything but video is now appropriate.

Perhaps even (gasp!) one, or more, conference calls .. for example ..


> LightPath Technologies announces its Second Quarter 2009 Financial
> Results *Conference Call*  February 05, 2009: 02:27 PM ET

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0471936.htm>

LightPath Technologies, Inc. announced that it will host a conference 
call on Thursday.. to discuss the Company's financial and operational 
results for the Second Quarter 2009 .. Dial-in Number: 1-800-762-8908
International Dial-in Number: 1-480-248-5085.

It is recommended that participants phone-in approximately 5 to 10 
minutes prior to the start of the 4:15 p.m. call. A replay of the 
conference call will be available approximately 3 hours after the 
completion of the call for 7 days. The call is also being webcast
and may be accessed at the website www.viavid.net. (end quote)
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And yes, why not government sponsored and moderated conference calls
to discuss matters of Australian public and industry etc importance? 

If webcast at the same time, as in the above industry example, then
paticipants might see, hear and contribute to discusions quite well.

Also save valuable time, money & carbon in assisting our governments!


Cheers,
Stephen


Tom imaginatively, and also indeed sensibly, writes ..

The Chairman of the Productivity Commission, gave a Public Lecture in 
Canberra last night on "Evidence-based policy" ...

<http://billboard.anu.edu.au/event_view.asp?id=37383>. 

At question time I asked about the use of online systems and cross 
agency resources to make the process quicker and more efficient. I 
used the example of the Environment Department, who on Tuesday hosed 
a meeting of industry on how to reduce energy use. One way I 
suggested to reduce energy use was  to conduct such consultation 
online so the participants did not need to fly to Canberra 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/02/national-strategy-for-energy-
efficiency.html>.

Given that the Productivity Commission has a mandate to, and 
considerable expertise in, analysis of government policy, perhaps 
they could commission an online system for this purpose. Such a 
system could be initially used by the Commission and then made 
available for other agencies and state governments. The system could 
function in a similar way to AusTender, the Australian Government's 
online tender system <https://www.tenders.gov.au/>. It could use 
similar free open source software to GovDex, the Government's online 
collaboration tool <https://www.govdex.gov.au/>. Agencies could 
upload draft policies for consultation. The system would 
automatically alert those who had registered interest in the topic. 
People could download the draft and upload comments. The system would 
collate the results automatically. The Australian Bureau of 
Statistics National Data Network could be used to support analytical 
analysis of policies across agencies 
<http://www.nationaldatanetwork.org/>.

Providing an online system for policy analysis could considerably cut 
government costs. I get the impression that much of the resources in 
policy agencies are not devoted to analysis of policy, but to 
arranging meetings to discuss the policy. Eliminating most of these 
meetings would greatly reduce costs. This would also reduce 
accidental or deliberate bias in the process, where only a small 
select group is consulted due to time or cost pressures (or because 
no criticism of the policy is welcome). In the case of something like 
the response to the Global Financial Crisis, a consultation and 
analysis could be carried out in a few days.

More in my Blog at: 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/02/evidence-based-policy-for-
global.html>.

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